Greek-born Spanish Mannerist Painter, 1541-1614 Considered a representative of late Renaissance Spanish art, El Greco was actually born in Greece, on the island of Crete. After studying in Venice under Titian, El Greco settled in Toledo, Spain in 1577. At the time he was wildly popular, his emotionally religious paintings being just the ticket for the hometown of the Spanish Inquisition. After his death his work was largely ignored until the beginning of the 20th century; now he considered one of the inspired geniuses of Western art. His distinctive style features bold shapes and colors, with elongated and slightly distorted figures. In Toledo El Greco was in constant demand and liked living large: he maintained a private orchestra to accompany his meals.  Related Paintings of El Greco :. | Details of The Burial of Count Orgaz | Mary Magdalen in Penitence | St Sebastian | resurrection | el espolio |
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Henry Singleton
British Painter, 1766-1839,English painter and illustrator. His father died when he was young, and he was brought up by his uncle, the miniature painter William Singleton (d 1793). In 1782 he entered the Royal Academy Schools in London and in 1784 won a silver medal for a drawing from life, exhibiting at the Royal Academy for the first time the same year. He showed considerable promise and in 1788 won a gold medal for a painting inspired by John Dryden's ode Alexander's Feast that was especially praised by Reynolds. In 1793 Singleton was commissioned by the Royal Academy to paint the group portrait the Royal Academicians Assembled in their Council Chamber (London, RA). He soon became noted for his paintings inspired by the Bible and from literary sources, among them Manto and Tiresias (exh. 1792; London, Tate) from John Dryden's Oedipus, and for his depictions of contemporary historical events, of which the watercolour Design Commemorative of the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1807; London, BM) is an example. Many of his works were engraved in mezzotint and achieved a widespread popularity. He also painted portraits, the writer James Boswell (c. 1795; Edinburgh, N.P.G.) being one of his sitters. Many of Singleton's later works are inclined to be sentimental and were carelessly executed; they were often intended solely for engraving.
Frederick Goodall
British Painter, 1822-1904 Painter, son of Edward Goodall. He was taught by his father and first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1838. His earliest subjects were rural genre scenes and landscapes, many derived from sketching trips made between 1838 and 1857 in Normandy, Brittany, Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Venice. In the 1850s he also painted subjects from British history. More significant for his subsequent career was his visit to Egypt from September 1858 to April 1859. In Cairo he lived in a house in the Coptic quarter with Carl Haag. Together the two artists went on expeditions to Giza to draw the Nile, the Sphinx and Pyramids, and to Suez and across the Red Sea to the Wells of Moses at 'Uyen Mesa. Goodall also made rapid sketches in the crowded streets of Cairo. 'My sole object in paying my first visit to Egypt', he wrote, 'was to paint Scriptural subjects'. The first of these, Early Morning in the Wilderness of Shur (London, Guildhall A.G.), was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1860 and won him critical and popular acclaim. In 1864 he was elected RA. Much of the rest of Goodall's long career was devoted to painting similar scenes of Egyptian life with biblical associations, for which he made reference to his sketches and to Egyptian artefacts and clothing. Their success prompted a second visit to Egypt in 1870-71.
Wille Pierre Alexandre
French Painter , 1748--Paris 1821 Painter, son of Jean-Georges Wille. Between 1761 and 1763 he trained under Jean-Baptiste Greuze, who was a friend of his father, and later under Joseph-Marie Vien. Approved by the Acad?mie Royale in 1774, he devoted himself to painting sentimental genre scenes, such as the Last Moments of a Beloved Wife (1784; Cambrai, Mus. Mun.), in Greuze's manner. He also executed paintings for his father to engrave, including French Patriotism (1781) and the Double Reward of Merit (1785; both Bl?rancourt, Cheteau, Mus. N. Coop. Fr.-Amer.).